Scott, who was giving a presentation in his role as executive director of the Economic Development Association of Alabama, said Pelham officials plan to take a trip to the Cabela's headquarters office in Nebraska to make a sales pitch for their Shelby County city.

Cabela's, which sells hunting, fishing camping and related outdoor merchandise in stores similar to a Bass Pro Shop store, last year operated 32 stores in 23 states and two in Canada, and had plans to open five more this year, according to the company's 2011 annual report.

Cabela's also had announced plans to test several smaller 40,000-square-foot Cabela's Outpost stores to match markets with less than 250,000 people.

Scott said Cabela's is looking for a level site with interstate exposure and a certain amount of vehicle traffic and said Pelham has a site that the city believes meets Cabela's criteria.